Tech Gets Win and Remains Perfect in Fall
October 19, 2009 | Softball
Oct. 19, 2009
LUBBOCK, Texas - Logan Hall's first inning blast over the left field fence was all the offense Tech needed--but not all it got--this afternoon in fall scrimmage softball at Rocky Johnson Field as Tech beat Odessa College, 5-1.
Karli Merlich, Ashley Brokeshoulder and Hillary Phillips threw the combined seven innings for the Red Raiders and were extremely effective. Merlich and Brokeshoulder were stingy, not surrendering a hit to the visitors in five innings. Merlich threw the first three complete innings, fanning one of the 10 batters she faced. The southpaw sophomore continues her strong fall and has not given up an earned run in 15.1 innings.
Like the beautiful afternoon in Lubbock, the defense behind Brokeshoulder was a little breezy at times (3 errors in the game) and the freshman gave up the lone run--unearned--in the top of the fourth after an error, a walk and a passed ball combined to allow Odessa to score. Brokeshoulder, however, took control of the situation, striking out five batters of the six outs she threw. Phillips came on in the sixth and scattered three hits, while issuing no free passes and fanning one in her two full innings of work.
Offensively, senior Leah Legler led off the first inning with a single, was advanced to second on a sacrifice by sophomore Stephanie Drewry and strolled in when Hall's drive landed about 20 feet beyond the fence in left field. The Red Raiders picked up a run in the fourth when freshman center fielder Mikey Kenney walked and moved over on a single by sophomore right fielder Ashley Hamada. Both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore catcher Holley Gentsch and Kenney's spot* scored on a sacrifice fly ball by freshman infielder Kristen Reeves.
Tech added two insurance runs in the fifth when, with one out, Hall walked and was advanced to second on a sacrifice fielder's choice by sophomore infielder Emily Bledsoe. Both runners scored when Kenney drilled a shot down the left field line for a two-run double.
Hamada collected two hits on the day and Drewry doubled, along with a hit by freshman Desiree Harvey* to round-out the offense for the Red Raiders on the day.
*The scorekeeper at least thinks it was Harvey, with free substitutions and no uniforms with numbers it can be very difficult to tell! Also, pinch runners are used with reckless disregard for the score book, so it was another player who actually scored, and we refer to the run as Kenney's spot, for example. (This is true for most of the runs scored throughout the fall scrimmage games, by the way.) This footnote is also a reminder that none of these statistics or games are official and thus do not count toward the spring's record.
The Red Raiders next will have a two-scrimmage game day on Saturday, Oct. 24, when Western Texas and Navarro visit Lubbock for 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. start times, respectively.
